The Untouchables
by Jet Wolf
Summary: One can choose to not be touched. The other can't choose anything else. Both are prisoners in desperate need of a friend. Rogue and Kitty, the Untouchables.
1. The Best Medicine

**Standard disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine. If I owned the X-Men, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I'd be on a yacht off the Oregon coast sipping chilled mango juice.

**Story notes:** Right now, what you see is what you get. This story has a definite setting, but you aren't to know that yet. All will be revealed, all will be revealed …

_(1 June 2003)_  


* * *

**The Untouchables  
Part 1: The Best Medicine**

_Such a seemingly simple request. A measure of trust for the one man they could trust above all others. And considering the source of the request… Well, how could she refuse?_

I will if I have to, she had grumbled, undeterred, perhaps even encouraged by the presence of the young woman standing only a few feet away, easily within earshot. But I won't like her – ever!

"Sugah?"

_She wondered if that wasn't when things started to fall apart. Before that day, life had been simple. The good guys were good guys and the bad guys were toast. Sure the stakes were high, they always were, but that just made things that much more exciting. They were the untouchables, the undefeatable, the uncanny._

"Hel-looo..?"

_But then **she** showed up on their doorstep, asking – no, **begging** for their help. Yeah, right. Help **her**? After all she'd done to their friend, to them? The nerve! There was never a moment's doubt that she'd be turned away. Whatever she was suffering (if she was indeed suffering at all and not just trying to trick them) was no less than she deserved. Let her rot._

"Earth t' Pryde, come in Pryde…"

_When he had announced that not only would she be staying, she would be joining the team, there was almost open rebellion. There was no way that they could work with her! They were heroes! **She** was anything **but**. She was worse than a killer, a bad guy through and through. Bad guys stayed bad guys, they didn't up and join the good guys. That had to be some sort of cosmic rule._

"Okay, ah'm startin' t' take this personal."

_Things were no longer so black and white, the line was irreparably blurred. Bad guys could be good guys. Good guys could be bad guys. Sometimes bad guys appeared to be good guys when compared to bigger bad guys. It was all so confusing. Who were the good guys? Who were the bad guys?_

Was she a bad guy?

Am I?

"Ah hate t' break up the reverie, ah really do, but if y'all don't start rejoinin' the real world, y' gonna phase right out o' the car."

Kitty's eyes regained their focus and she looked around with a start at her surroundings. She was embedded into the front seat of the small car, and inertia was promising to eventually pull her completely out of the vehicle.

She swore under her breath. It had been years since that terrible night in the tunnels beneath New York City, and she still hadn't recovered completely from the wounds. _Maybe some wounds simply never heal_, she thought darkly.

Intangibility had been her mutant talent, the ability to move like a ghost through solid matter at will. She dubbed it "phasing," and had at one time thought there was no better gift in the entire world. Now, she wasn't so sure. Thanks to Harpoon, she was naturally intangible. Rather than concentrating to phase, she had to concentrate **not** to. One slip, and she became incorporeal. Fail to pay attention, and the world slipped by without her. Kitty often wondered just how far she could phase. Shortly after the attack, she was only held together by a chamber specially designed to keep all of her molecules in one place. She'd gotten better, but would she ever get like that again? Could she? Simply let go and drift apart. Let the planet's own rotation leave her behind in the quiet, peaceful nothingness of space…

But today wasn't the day to find out. Kitty relaxed her concentration enough to phase herself completely through the front seat, solidifying with a satisfying "thump!" in the back. She flashed a big toothy grin at her traveling companion and held up two fingers in victory. She didn't fool anyone.

"Y'all gotta be more careful, sugah," her friend drawled, glaring admonishingly at Kitty through the rearview mirror. As soon as the words were spoken, her face softened with concern, and she pushed a lock of white hair from her eyes. She lowered her sunglasses to look directly at Kitty in the mirror. "Lord knows the last thing either of us needs right now is extra attention. So, what could y' have possibly found more interestin' than one o' my oh-so-riveting Savage Land stories?"

Kitty smirked and phased through the front seat to reclaim her original place at shotgun. "Like anything could **hope** to be as fascinating as 'Rogue of the Jungle.'" Rogue stuck her tongue out at that and Kitty chuckled, but her mood became somber again. "Just thinking. You know. About old times."

"Good old times or bad old times?"

The pause was slight, but noticeable. "Well, not the best."

Rogue sighed. When she had all but kidnapped Kitty to come on this trip, she had hoped that her friend would be doing better than this. There was no doubt in the southerner's mind that anything was better than Kitty going back to her apartment to brood alone, and a road trip certainly classified as "anything", but as the car ate more and more miles, Kitty seemed to drift further and further away. Literally as well as figuratively. Rogue decided that desperate times called for desperate measures and took the next exit ramp off of the freeway.

"What are you doing?" asked Kitty. They had no particular schedule, but were hoping to be out of the state before stopping for the night and they still had several hundred miles to go.

Rogue pushed her sunglasses back up her nose and set her jaw determinably, a course of action firmly set in her mind. "Ah know of only one cure f'r your condition. The best medicine ever created by man."

Kitty raised her eyebrow.

"Ice cream."


	2. Earthbound Misfit

**Standard disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine. If I owned the X-Men, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I'd have a solid gold bathtub. Two of them. Because I could.

_(2 June 2003)_  


* * *

**The Untouchables  
Part 2: Earthbound Misfit**

"Three scoops of super-double-chocolate-fudge-chunk in a chocolate waffle cone with hot fudge sauce. Ooo, and chocolate sprinkles."

Rogue chuckled at the incredulous look the woman behind the counter shot at Kitty before grabbing an ice cream scoop and preparing to assemble the monster. "Ah detect a theme."

Kitty was unapologetic. "Chocolate is food of the gods," she declared. "I know, I asked Thor once."

"Point," Rogue conceded. "Make that two."

_You'd think I'd stop being surprised at what people can put away_, the waitress thought to herself. Alice Mathers had been working at the malt shop for the past ten years. Exactly twelve years and four months, in fact, but she'd technically stopped counting after ten. In that time, she'd come to consider herself something of an armchair psychologist. In ten (twelve, but who was counting?) years of watching romance develop over shared malts and broken hearts drowned in banana splits, Alice had developed a keen, observing eye and a theory: Nothing convinced people to become relentless eating machines like emotion. An ice cream sundae of this magnitude could only mean one thing. There was a lot of hurting going on here.

That's where Alice became confused. The two women standing at her counter were laughing and joking easily with each other.

She thought at first that one of them had broken up with her boyfriend. That was usually the case when two girls came through that door intent on consuming as much ice cream as humanly possible. Maybe the one with that striking shock of white hair? Alice couldn't remember when she'd seen a pair of eyes more lonely. But she somehow didn't think this was the case. Typically when people found themselves alone after a relationship ends, they looked lost, uncomfortable without someone by their side, holding their hand. This young woman seemed completely at ease on her own, actually appearing to prefer it when no one was standing near her. So it's not a nasty break-up.

Alice stirred the hot fudge and spooned out a generous helping. Maybe the other girl was the key? Alice stole a look at the girls over her shoulder. The short brunette was playfully punching her friend in the arm, declaring that she could take on the Juggernaut when the older girl pretended to stagger from the blow. There was definitely something there -- was that a flicker of sadness peaking out from the smiles? Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the look was gone. This girl was like a ghost, Alice just couldn't seem to get a fix on her. She replaced the cover on the hot fudge container and finished making the sundaes. Whatever was going on, it was beyond Alice to figure out. Or maybe she was simply reading more into the situation than was really there? She gave the girls their change and watched them go take their cones to the tables outside. Maybe they were just two people who really, really liked chocolate. Though you'd never know it to look at them. Alice couldn't remember when she saw two people in better physical condition, there wasn't an ounce of fat on either of them. Some girls have all the luck.

* * *

"Mmmmm," Rogue murmured appreciatively. "**This** is why we were born wi' taste buds."

Kitty examined a spoonful of gooey chocolate critically. "I dunno, it could use more hot fudge." She narrowly avoided the wadded up napkin Rogue threw at her head. "Well, it **could**."

"Girl, y'all're hopeless."

The loud cry of a bird flying overhead drew their attention to the bright blue sky. It was a perfect day, sunny and clear without a cloud for miles. Rogue sighed quietly despite herself, but Kitty was watching her friend intently. Her face became sad again, but for Rogue this time and not herself. Kitty placed her bare hand over Rogue's gloved one and squeezed gently, drawing the older girl's attention. She hated, but wasn't surprised, to see Rogue's eyes were shining with unshed tears.

Rogue chuckled humorlessly and withdrew from the touch, lounging against the back of her chair. She quickly passed a hand over her eyes, wiping them dry. "What a pair we make, huh?"

Kitty nodded, pushing her half-melted ice cream around with the spoon. "Yeah, you could say that." She looked over at Rogue, who was wistfully watching the birds soar effortlessly through the sky on thermals. "You still miss it," she said, more a statement than a question.

"Only ev'ry day," replied Rogue, reluctantly turning away from the birds. "It's funny, y'know? F'r years ah felt guilty about mah powers. Carol's powers. But ah just couldn't help myself. There's nothin' in the world like knowin' you c'n fly fast enough t' break the sound barrier " She laughed. "Knowin' you c'n go toe-to-toe wi' the Hulk ain't half bad neither."

"I can imagine," Kitty said. "The most gratuitously violent reaction I can get from **my** powers is phasing through a blender while making a smoothie."

Picking up a napkin from the table, Rogue began to shred it absently, dropping the pieces into the remains of her sundae. "When Carol an' ah were finally split, it was like ah'd gotten a second chance. Gettin' Carol's powers too was the icin' on the cake. Finally, ah was able t' **enjoy** somethin' 'bout this godforsaken mutant gene."

She dropped the final piece of the napkin and tilted her head back, resting it on the chair and again staring at the birds still circling overhead. "There's nothin' like it, Kitty. Nothin' in the world. Th' air is crisp an' cool, an' the view. Lordy, th' view. When ah'm up there, ah'm alone b'cause ah **want** t' be, not b'cause ah **have** t' be."

Kitty's heart ached for Rogue. There seemed to be so little in life that truly made Rogue happy. For all of her loss, at least Kitty had, for a while, known true happiness. _That just makes the pain that much greater_, snarled the ever-present voice in Kitty's head. _Who actually has it worse here? Her for missing what she's never known, or you for missing what you had?_ Kitty pushed the voice to the back of her mind and again squeezed Rogue's gloved hand. How bitterly ironic that, of all the powers Rogue once had at her disposal, the only one she had now was the one she hated the most.

This time Rogue responded with a thankful smile. "An' here ah thought this'd bring the mood up, not down."

"Oh, I dunno. By comparison, I'm feeling **much** better now."

"Glad mah angst c'n serve a noble purpose."

"You know," said Kitty, throwing away the remains of her and Rogue's sundaes, "you may not be able to fly anymore, but I think I know just the thing to cheer you up." She snatched the keys from Rogue's hand and ran to the car, laughing as Rogue gave chase.


	3. Straight on 'til Morning

**Standard disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine. If I owned the X-Men, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I'd be relaxing in a nice air-conditioned house instead of sweltering in my apartment.

**Author's Notes:** No, this isn't the final part, but finals kinda crept up on me, so look for more updates within about a week. Silly school.

_(4 June 2003)_  


* * *

**The Untouchables  
Part 3: Straight on 'til Morning**

The wind ripped through Rogue's hair and she couldn't help but let out a jubilant cry. In the driver's seat, Kitty echoed the cry, her face split with a grin.

"Listen to us," she yelled to be heard over the wind, "we sound like Thelma and Louise!"

Rogue either didn't hear or didn't care. She was half dangling out of the car window, which was speeding down the highway at 70 miles per hour. Both of them knew that it wasn't quite the same as the power of flight that Rogue had recently lost as a result of injuries sustained during the alien invasion of Madripoor, but at the moment it was as good as she was going to get. Besides, when Rogue closed her eyes, she could imagine that she was really soaring miles above the earth without a soul for miles…

A piercing sound shook both girls from their thoughts. The red and blue flashing lights made it clear that the fun was over. Rogue quickly ducked back inside the car and crossed her arms with a huff. "Shoot, jus' when ah was startin' t' get into it, too."

"What do you think?" Kitty asked, watching the police car through the rearview mirror. "Try to make a break for it?"

"Nah. Knowin' our luck we'd end up on the next episode of _Cops_. We'd never live that one down."

"You're no fun," accused Kitty, but she slowed the car and pulled onto the shoulder. The sun was just starting to set, and the highway was relatively clear of any traffic.

Rogue reached into the glove compartment to fish out the registration. "Ah'm glad it was you drivin', sugah," she said, piling old gas receipts and CD cases into her lap. "No license," she admitted at Kitty's questioning look.

"What?!"

"Well you try getting' official ID as 'Shadowcat' sometime an' see how successful you are."

Kitty frowned at Rogue. "You **could** use your real name, y'know."

Rogue snorted. "Yeah, that's gonna happen. Ahh, here it is." She handed the papers to Kitty and started shoving everything back into the glove compartment as the other woman smiled at the approaching officer.

"Ladies," the officer said by way of greeting. "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

"Speed limit?" said Kitty hopefully.

The officer smirked. "Not even close. Try 82 miles an hour."

Kitty boggled. "82?? I was sure not to go over 75!"

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," Rogue said quietly, "the speedometer's broken."

"You are **so** dead."

"As for your friend here, what was that stunt all about?" the officer asked, indicating to Rogue.

"She must've been channeling a Labrador Retriever or something," Kitty said, still glaring.

Rogue gave an indignant "Hey!" but the policeman ignored her and continued talking. "I know you young people think that you're invincible, that the world can never hurt you, but take it from me, that's not the case. I've seen kids your age and younger who've been seriously hurt or worse from taking too many stupid risks. You're not as invulnerable as you like to think."

Kitty and Rogue looked at each other, but said nothing.

The police officer sighed. "Look, it's getting late. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but don't let me catch either of you doing something crazy like that again. Understood?" He nodded approvingly at the "Yes sir"s. "Good. Now you two girls head on home. And **drive safely**."

He walked away from the car as Kitty started it and pulled back onto the highway, making sure to stick to 65 miles per hour.

"That was lucky," said Rogue, right before Kitty swatted her arm. "OW!"

"'Oh, yeah, that reminds me'," Kitty spat mockingly.

Rogue rubbed her arm, more out of shock than pain. "Ah'm sorry. Ah was gonna tell ya b'fore we left, but once ah started feelin' that rush again… Well, ah just forgot all 'bout it."

Kitty had originally planned to make Rogue squirm a bit more before letting her off the hook, but since they hadn't actually gotten a ticket, Kitty decided to just drop it. "Good stuff, huh?"

"It was great," Rogue said enthusiastically. "Not as good as the real thing, o' course, but f'r a moment there, ah really thought ah could jus' kick off the ground an' keep goin'." She laughed. "Maybe jus' as well that cop came along when he did, ah might'a tried it."

Kitty laughed as well. "Eww, Rogue pancakes. Talk about not living something down. You've faced off against some of the most dangerous people this world has ever seen and what finally takes you out? You fall out of a car."

"Heroic to the end, that's me."

The two continued driving in silence for a while, finally broken by a question that had been on both of their minds.

"So where are we going, anyway?" Kitty asked.

Rogue chewed on her bottom lip, considering the question. "No idea," she finally concluded. She smiled at Kitty's amused chuckle. "Well let's hear your suggestion, sugah."

"No idea," echoed Kitty. "I guess… We just keep going until we stop. Whenever and wherever that is."

"Sounds like as good a plan as any t' me."

"Second star on the right and straight on 'til morning."

"Thank you, Peter Pan."

"You're welcome, Tinkerbelle."


	4. Dirt, Sweat and Sin

**Standard disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine. If I owned the X-Men, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I'd be eating peeled grapes, fed to me by well-muscled man-things.

_(16 June 2003)_  


* * *

**The Untouchables  
Part 4: Dirt, Sweat and Sin**

It was settled. There was nothing – NOTHING – better in the world than a nice hot shower. There was something rejuvenating about a shower that Rogue found irresistible. You entered as one person and emerged as another. All the dirt, sweat and sins are erased, leaving you a clean slate to start the cycle all over again. _Lord knows we all need as many fresh starts as we c'n get._

She adjusted the showerhead until she found a massage setting that didn't make her feel like she was under attack and let the hot water work its magic while her mind wandered. She was disappointed in herself for falling back into the self-absorbed misery that afternoon. **Kitty** was the focus of this trip, Rogue was here to help **Kitty** work through her pain, not to put the girl in a situation where she had to support Rogue's sorry butt. _Yeah, you been hurt. Ain't nothin' new. Life'll either go back t' whatever passes for normal or it won't. Either way you'll cope. But Kitty, she's got her whole life ahead'a her. She c'n do **better**'n just "cope". If somebody don't do **some**thin', she'll throw it all away. Can't let that happen._

Rogue's decision to "escape" with Kitty had been just the sort of impulsive decision Rogue was famous for, but she knew that ultimately, she was the best person for the job. Ororo had a team to look after and couldn't afford the time away, however much she might have wanted to take it. _'Sides, there's always somethin' 'bout Storm that feels…judgmental. I dunno, maybe that's just mah own conscience talkin' here, but she always has this way o' makin' ya feel so blasted **guilty**. Ah love 'Ro t' death, but ah don't think a goddess-eye view o' the situation is gonna help Kitty come t' terms with anythin'._

Logan had been there when it happened, and Rogue had initially thought about pitching her "vacation" idea to him. Further consideration had convinced her that was probably the polar opposite of what Kitty needed, Logan was more likely to confuse the situation even more. Kitty had grown up under Logan's watchful eye. She was one of "Logan's Kids", something that Rogue could relate to only too well. It fostered something akin to a hero worship that they never quite grew out of, regardless of age or experience. Unfortunately, Logan was the epitome of a "grey area" and Kitty was drowning in grey. Logan had killed. Would kill again. No, definitely not the best choice.

She had next considered calling Kurt and getting him to "bamf" on over for a visit, but dismissed that idea almost as soon as she had it. Kurt's religion made it pretty clear where he would stand on the issue, and Rogue doubted that a confession and a "Hail Mary" were going to make things right again.

To Rogue's mind the only, best choice was clear. She, perhaps more than anybody, knew where Kitty was coming from. She'd been standing at the edge (hell, she'd been plummeting head-first down the cliff!) and knew first-hand what a fall like that would cost. Besides, she could do with some time away herself. Away from the feelings of uselessness, away from the painful memories, and, for the moment, away from **him**.

Rogue turned the water off, noticing for the first time that it was starting to run cold. She grabbed two towels off the rack, wrapping the first around her body and using the second on her hair. The mirror had disappeared under a thick fog, and Rogue swiped her hand across the surface, leaving behind a momentary patch of clarity. She stared as the mirror again became obscured, and a pair of emerald eyes, full of resolve and determination stared back.

William Stryker had hurt Kitty. Kitty had killed William Stryker. Rogue was bound and determined to see that the man did no more harm from beyond the grave.


	5. Virtual Comfort

**Standard disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine. If I owned the X-Men, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I'd be surfing the web on broadband instead of dial-up. Man, I hate dial-up.

**Story notes:** Just in case it wasn't clear with the last chapter, this story's setting has now been established. It's taking place after the current storyline running in _X-Treme X-Men_, "God Loves, Man Kills II". Obviously, since it's still running (at this time, we're only on part 2), there's no telling how it will end. However, I have a theory or three about GLMK2, as well as Rogue and Gambit's return in the next storyline. Those theories form the backdrop for this story. It could very well be that Mr. Claremont will invalidate everything that I'm hypothesizing, but such is the beauty of fanfics that it doesn't really matter, does it? As an aside, I thank everyone for the kind reviews. I've been out of the fanfic loop for many, many years, and it does my shrivelled heart good to feel a warm fuzzy.

_(17 June 2003)_  


* * *

**The Untouchables  
Part 5: Virtual Comfort**

The bathroom door opened, spilling a cloud of steam and mist into the hotel room. Kitty looked up from the laptop balance precariously on her lap as Rogue emerged, dressed for bed and still toweling off her damp hair. "Finally," Kitty said as her friend flopped down on the room's second twin bed and flipped on the television. "I thought you'd been sucked into another dimension or something."

"Nah, that already happened once this year, ah've used up mah quota."

Kitty chuckled and returned her focus to the computer screen and the message window's calm, persistent blinking. She'd only meant to log on briefly to e-mail her completed paper on quantum theory to Professor Blanchard (she'd copped no small amount of teasing from Rogue about doing her homework on the road, but Kitty couldn't afford to fall any further behind in her classes). As soon as she'd turned on her computer, however, she'd been caught. Ororo wasn't exactly what you'd call an Internet junkie, so Kitty figured that Storm had been waiting for her. Given the situation when they'd last seen each other, Kitty decided that a talk, even virtually, was probably overdue.

------------

**wyndrydr:** Kitten? Are you still there?  
**CatShadowX:** Yeah, sorry. Talking to Rogue. She finally decided to rejoin the world. I don't think there's any hot water left in this place!  
**wyndrydr:** How is she doing?  
**CatShadowX:** Not too bad. She got kinda down earlier today about the whole flight thing, but we worked through it.  
**CatShadowX:** She nearly got me in trouble with a cop a few hours ago!  
**wyndrydr:** Nothing too serious, I hope.  
**CatShadowX:** Speeding ticket. She didn't bother to tell me that her car's speedometer was broken until AFTER the cop pulled me over. He let us go with a warning, though.  
**wyndrydr:** That's good. Although we could have had either Sage or Bishop intercede if necessary.  
**CatShadowX:** That's true. Bishop's a cop, I hear.  
**wyndrydr:** Indeed.  
**CatShadowX:** Yup. He's a cop.  
**wyndrydr:** Yes…  
**CatShadowX:** Did I mention Bishop's a cop? Because he is, you know. A cop.  
**wyndrydr:** Feel free to stop any time.  
**CatShadowX:** :)  
**wyndrydr:** How about you? How are you feeling?  
**CatShadowX:** Eh. Okay, I guess.  
**wyndrydr:** I have been worried.   
**CatShadowX:** Sorry.  
**wyndrydr:** Sage has nearly completed her work on Mount Haven's files. Even she is amazed at how much information Stryker had collected over the years.  
**CatShadowX:** If there's one thing I've learned about that man, it's that NOTHING about him can surprise me any more.  
**wyndrydr:** Kitten…  
**CatShadowX:** Yes?  
**wyndrydr:** I want you to know that I understand why you did it. And I do not blame you.  
**wyndrydr:** Kitten?  
**CatShadowX:** Yeah. I'm here.  
**wyndrydr:** You should not blame yourself either.  
**CatShadowX:** Easier said than done.  
**wyndrydr:** Everything considered, I am not certain I would not have done the same.  
**CatShadowX:** The point is that there was another way, and I chose not to take it. It wasn't an accident, Ro, I CHOSE to kill Stryker. It was a CONSCIOUS decision. What does that say about me?  
**CatShadowX:** I mean, we're the good guys, right?  
**CatShadowX:** Never mind. I don't want to deal with this right now. Can we talk about something else? Please?  
**wyndrydr:** Very well.  
**wyndrydr:** Remy would like you to say hello to Rogue for him.  
**wyndrydr:** "Hello" is not exactly what he wants you pass along, but I doubt very much that you would feel comfortable delivering his exact request, as there is pinching involved.

------------

Kitty looked over at Rogue, who was lying on her stomach, resting her elbows on a pillow. She'd spent the past half an hour or so cycling endlessly through the hotel room's paltry channel selection and showed no signs of becoming bored.

"Gambit says 'hi'."

Kitty waited patiently and impassively through Rogue's tirade, not even flinching when the remote control bounced off of the wall and violently ejected its batteries to opposite corners of the room.

------------

**CatShadowX:** Rogue says "hi" back.  
**wyndrydr:** Whatever are we going to do with those two?  
**CatShadowX:** I wouldn't recommend taking any of Rogue's suggestions. They're messy.

------------

The conversation didn't last for much longer. Kitty appreciated Ororo's words, but right now, given her mood, that's all they felt like – just words. Hollow, meaningless words that she'd heard a dozen times before. Nothing was helping. Nothing was making her feel better. Nothing was bringing Stryker back.

The worst part was, Kitty was glad for that. Stryker could never again threaten her, use her, hurt her again. But that was supposed to make her feel better, right? So why didn't it?

_The good guys are good guys and the bad guy is toast. See? It's still simple._

Kitty wished she believed that.

With a sigh, Kitty closed her laptop and placed it on the floor next to her bed. Rogue had retrieved the pieces of the remote control and was still cycling methodically through the channels.

*click!* Local news.  
*click!* _Friends_ rerun.  
*click!* Local weather.  
*click!* _Seinfeld_ rerun.  
*click!* More local news.  
*click!* Nature documentary.  
*click!* Unrecognizable old movie.  
*click!* Scrambled porn.  
*click!* Scrambled porn.  
*click!* Scrambled porn.  
*click!* Local news.  
*click!* _Friends_ rerun.

"ARG!!" Kitty finally exclaimed, hurling her pillow at Rogue and hitting her head with deadly accuracy. For the second time that night, the remote control wound up on the floor in multiple pieces. "You're driving me crazy!"

"S'not **mah** fault there's nothin' on," Rogue replied, rubbing her head. She picked up Kitty's pillow and narrowed her eyes as an evil grin spread across her face. "Y'know," she said, tossing Kitty her pillow, "ah think ah owe ya one." Rogue picked up her gloves from the nightstand and slowly, methodically, began to put them on.

"An' ah mean t' collect."

Kitty began to laugh nervously, trying unsuccessful to hide behind the fluffy weapon. "I don't suppose an apology would help…?"

"Oh no. The kid gloves are **on** now."

"You lost your super-strength too, right? Please say yes."

"Ah guess y'all just have t' find out the hard way."

Kitty squealed with laughter as Rogue attacked, and the battle raged long into the night.


	6. Truths and Consequences

**Standard disclaimer:** The characters aren't mine. If I owned the X-Men, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I'd be writing the real thing.

_(1 July 2003)_  


* * *

**The Untouchables  
Part 6: Truths and Consequences**

The installation was bathed in darkness, only the occasional emergency light served for illumination. That, and the warning lights. They flashed a slow but constant crimson, like a dull throb. Like a beating heart. She wanted nothing more than to crush it, to make the heart stop beating forever.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, but could still see the pulse.

_Red.  
Black.  
Red.  
Black.  
Beat.  
Pause.  
Beat.  
**ENOUGH!**_

Nothing was making sense, yet she understood everything. The past week had been reduced to a few brief moments of lucidity amidst a fog of confusion, but she knew. God help them, she knew.

They had wanted her to kill. In one brief moment, one flash of gunpowder, the world would be changed forever. Fingers would point in just the right direction, they would have seen to that. She would become a target herself, a representative of her kind to make an example of. And they would have. She could hear his imagined shout of triumph, his laughter echoed in her thoughts.

He was laughing.

He was on his knees before her, as though praying. She was his judge and jury. She was his God. And he was laughing at her.

_Stop it,_ she wanted to yell. _**Stop it. STOP LAUGHING!!**_

But she said nothing as her lips pulled back across her teeth in a soundless snarl. She was out of words for him. She pulled back the hammer on the gun that was leveled at his head and let the distinctive click speak for her.

He simply laughed harder.

She had confronted him with her findings. The CD she had burned on his own computer contained his organization's most incriminating evidence, from basic tax fraud all the way up to his escape from prison and his plans for her. The information would ensure his conviction, despite his connections, despite the many people who agree with his ultimate goal. She had him, and was not ashamed to admit that she took no small amount of joy from telling him so.

He hadn't cared. Not one bit.

The sound of his laughter began to worm its way into her head like a living thing, a parasite intent on consuming her utterly, body and soul. She could feel it crawling up her spine and burrow into her brain. Her shoulder twitched involuntarily and waves of intense heat and numbing cold coursed through her. She knew that she would do anything to make it stop.

Anything.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a movement, but only barely registered who it was. A friend. Someone who would try to stop her. They didn't understand him like she did. When confronted with the evidence, he had smiled at her, like a parent amused at their child's latest impossibly cute declaration. In that instant, she knew. There would be no stopping him. Bars had already proved to be no barrier; he had engineered this entire situation from inside a maximum-security cell. She had seen his financial records and contact lists. He had invaded society like a cancer, spreading his influence through every group he encountered. They could stop this current plan, but that was little more than cutting out the biggest tumor. He would be back. He had assured her of this, and she knew it to be true. He would never rest until he had obliterated her and her kind.

Unless…

She had the chance. She had the power. She had the opportunity to end it, here and now, to make the world safe again. To put an end to the nightmares. To stop the laughter.

She took it.

* * *

Kitty bolted upright with a gasp, the sound of the gunshot still echoing in her ears. In her mind, she could still see Stryker's body falling to the ground, still feel his warm blood on her hands and face. Kitty gulped for breath like a drowning woman and looked anxiously around the room, half-expecting to see the wall and carpet splattered thick with brains, blood and skull fragments. Her stomach lurched at the thought, and Kitty ran, one hand clasped to her mouth as she phased through the hotel room wall into the bathroom.

In the next bed, still half-asleep, Rogue rested her chin on her knees and sighed deeply at the sounds of Kitty being repeatedly, violently sick in the next room. It was going to be a long night.


End file.
